Westside Digest

Santa Monica : Seniors' Housing Advances

The City Council approved the first phase of what may become 75 units of subsidized senior citizen housing built over a parking lot on 3rd Street just north of Wilshire Boulevard.

Acting as both the council and the Parking Authority, members approved the selection of Retirement Housing Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit developer, to work with the city in developing a proposal that will attract federal funds.

The city and developer must put together a plan that will qualify for a Department of Housing and Urban Development loan to pay for the project. The city will have to compete with other proposals for the low-interest loan, said Councilman Dennis Zane.

If the $2.5-million loan is approved, the Department of Housing and Urban Dvelopment will also subsidize rents at 30% of a tenant's income.

Rental income would be used to pay off the loan, said Zane. "We will be able to do this project at a minimal cost to the city."

The proposed project will be built on the air rights above the site, preserving the 85 parking spaces in the lot.